Friday, 29 May 2009

Medical Malpractice Cases Explained

by: Mart Gil Abareta

Medical malpractice refers to the case where a doctor or medical practitioner caused harm or damage to a patient due to negligence. This area of the personal injury law can either happen in diagnosis, treatment or management of the disease or illness. It is more often the theme of newspaper columns and articles. The most common victims of this case are movie actors and actresses, TV personalities, and the like.

The topic on medical malpractice cases always grabs the attention of the public. However, on a deeper sense, we must know that this kind of personal injury is a serious and complex area of law. If you’ve been a victim of a medical malpractice, you may be entitled to proper compensation for all the damages that you’ve endured financially, physically, mentally and emotionally. However, to win a medical malpractice lawsuit is normally a very difficult task due to several factors.

First, the negligence of the doctor must cause damage or injury to the patient. Second, the lawsuit must establish that the harm was really caused by the physician’s acts. Third, a medical professional must confirm that the treating physician made a mistake in order to prove malpractice which is often an intricate and expensive task. Fourth, the legislations protecting doctors and hospitals make medical malpractice cases more complicated because they limit the amount of compensation that the victims can obtain from the lawsuit.

Furthermore, the statute of limitations that is usually set to two years on almost all state laws on personal injury also makes medical malpractice lawsuits harder to prove. This can only be broken by unusual circumstances affecting the case. Therefore, it is advisable for a malpractice victim to seek legal assistance from a personal injury lawyer as soon as he recovers from the incident. Gathering the necessary information and evidences is also important to a speedy preparation for a possible lawsuit.

Therefore, if you’ve been injured or you have a loved one who has died in a surgery or operation, look an experienced medical malpractice lawyer who can evaluate if you have a possible lawsuit and determine the right amount of compensation that you must have. You have to act immediately because you might lose your legal rights when you’ll wait too long before you start a criminal case. However, most victims usually don’t pursue such cases because they don’t work especially when the malpractice didn’t cause serious or permanent damages.